‘Monster defender’ Kim Min-jae (27), who is active in Italy’s professional football Serie A Naples, led the team to 4 consecutive victories with another impregnable defense.

Napoli defeated AS Roma 2-1 in the 2022-23 season Italian Serie A round 18 home game held at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples, Italy on the 30th (Korean time).

With this, Napoli has recently run on a four-game winning streak. Napoli, who recorded 17 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss with 53 points, widened the gap with Inter Milan (13 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses, 40 points) in second place to 13 points. It is no exaggeration to say that Napoli is virtually booked to win unless they suddenly fall into a serious losing streak.

Kim Min-jae, who became the core of the defense as soon as he wore the Napoli uniform this season, continued to play full-time on this day as well. Amir Rahmani was teamed up as a fellow centre-back.

According to Whoscored.com, a soccer statistics site, Kim Min-jae recorded the most kicks of 9 times across both teams. He nearly twice outnumbered his teammate Rahmani, who scored five times.

He also had the most in the shooting jersey category with two, and also made two successful tackles. His passing success rate was 93.2%, the highest in the team, and he played an impeccable performance. Thanks to Kim Min-jae securing the back door, Roma’s proud “three-top” Tammy Abraham, Paulo Dybala, and Lorenzo Pellegrini only managed two shots in total. He failed to record a single shot on target.

There were also dangerous moments. In the 12th minute of the first half, Kim Min-jae tried to kick the opponent’s long pass with his head, but stopped and sent the ball toward the Napoli goal. Just as the goalkeeper came forward, the goal was empty. It was a crisis that almost became an own goal, but it did not lead to a goal as the ball slightly missed the side of the goal. 스포츠토토

Napoli took the lead in the 17th minute when striker Victor Osimen shook the net with a right-footed shot. Osimen shook the net with a non-stop shot after receiving a cross from Hvica Kvarachhelia from the left flank with his body.

In the 30th minute of the second half, Roma trailed 0-1, and Stefan El Sharawi’s equalizer put the game at the start. However, in the 41st minute of the second half, Giovanni Simeone scored the winning goal with a left-footed shot, giving Napoli a valuable 3 points.